With constitutional crises and high profile cases, 2018 makes history
The year that ends at midnight tomorrow will go into history as the year that saw many high profile cases, with even the actions of the country’s executive president being challenged.
In what was described as a historic landmark case, 18 petitions were filed in the Supreme Court requesting that the gazette issued by President Maithripala Sirisena dissolving Parliament be deemed illegal and quashed. After lengthy submissions over four days, a seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Nalin Perera, ruled that the President’s action in dissolving Parliament was unlawful. The ruling led to the resolution of a near two-month constitutional crisis.
In many ways, 2018 could be described as a year of constitutional cases as it began with President Sirisena himself turning to the Supreme Court to obtain its opinion on whether his term as President was five years or six. The court ruled that in terms of the 19th Amendment, it was five years.
A case that made headlines this year involves the Central Bank bond issue.
Perpetual Treasuries owner Arjun Aloysius and its Chief Executive Officer Kasun Palisena, who were arrested over the treasury bond scam, continued to be produced before court every two weeks this year. They remain in custody.
The year also saw several high profile cases over contempt of court charges. Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary, the Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, was sentenced to six years in prison by the Court of Appeal after being found guilty. The Thera’s appeal is pending before the Supreme Court. The Attorney General also filed contempt of court charges against then Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake. This case will be taken up in January.
Meanwhile, in another first, a sitting Supreme Court judge became both a complainant and a witness in a case. Supreme Court Justice Vijith Malalgoda gave evidence as a witness before his fellow justices when the court held an inquiry against Attorney-at-Law Nagananda Kodithuwakku over contempt of court allegations.
In another major development in the legal field, a threejudge Permanent High Courtat-Bar was established this year to hear cases of serious fraud. In first case filed before the court, five accused are being tried. Among them is Gamini Senarath, Chief of Staff of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. They are being accused of committing a fraud when investing state funds belonging to Litro Gas, a state entity, in a hotel project. Though indictments were filed in June, hearings have still not been concluded. Indictments were also filed against former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and six others in the Permanent High Court in August. They are accused of misappropriating state funds to build the D.A. Rajapaksa Museum. The case is due to be heard from January 22, 2019.
In another high profile case, information was conveyed to court in August that Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne had given refuge to the main suspect wanted for the disappearance of 11 youth. The Colombo Fort Magistrate ordered that the CDS be arrested. Eventually, the CDS appeared in court and spent a week in remand custody before being granted bail.
A case was filed against former Minister Johnston Fernando, former Sathosa Chairman Nalin Fernando and another at the Kurunegala High Court over charges of misappropriation of public funds. Judge Menaka Wijesundara ordered that the accused be kept in remand custody till the conclusion of the trial. The suspects were acquitted of all charges and released without calling for submissions from the defence.
In another headline-hitting case, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by Former MP Duminda Silva and three others against the death sentence imposed on them after being found guilty of the murder of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and four others. A five-judge SC bench led by the then Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, unanimously upheld the death sentence imposed on the accused. Incidentally, it was Chief Justice Dep’s last case.
Another high profile case was that of State Minister Vijayakala Maheshwaran. She was arrested and produced in court over her controversial comments which were seen by some as a call for the revival of the LTTE in a bid to bring discipline into society. She was later released on bail.
In a case of significant political importance, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Nalaka Silva, the head of the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID), was arrested and produced in court over an alleged plot to assassinate President Maithripala Sirisena. He is currently in remand.